Cardinal

The show may come across as plodding to people expecting an action series with a Hannibal Lector-like serial killer, but the show is a character-driven drama featuring a cast of flawed people very reminiscent of "Nordic Noir" shows such as "Wallander", but very unapologetic Canadian very with very good sense of place. Algonquin Bay on the show, and in the original novels, is quite clearly North Bay, Ontario in all but name (many of the same street names, located between the same lakes, and geographically in the same location), and the show, as with the novels, touches on the mix of English, French, and First Nations groups that form the culture of the area. And anyone who has lived in communities in northern Canada can sympathize with water lines freezing.

Billy Campbell does good work playing the troubled, but very good detective Cardinal, while Karinne Vanasse plays his partner Lise Delorme --also from the novels, lest people think they were casting a French-Canadian actress simply as a token--as equally competent, if not as experienced. The dynamic between is certainly not a copy of the Holmes-Watson relationship that people might be tempted to assume it is, and the pair do a very good job of portraying a detective paired up with a partner who is just as good as he is.

Overall, a very engrossing series again, as long as you aren't expecting shootouts or a serial killer leaving taunting clues.

This is a true reflection of what Fargo would have been if it was a TV series. Proof positive that Canada can make extraordinary TV shows. It's gruesome and gritty just like the Cohen brothers classic.

The cinematography is excellent without the superficial dark scene common in other police procedural shows. The show also does not attempt to rush to conclude each case in the space of 45 minutes. This allows the storytelling to be much fuller and nuanced.

Each season follows the main characters working on solving one major case. The two leads are exemplary in their portrayal of the seasoned detectives. The supporting actors come in each season with focus to fill out the story. A true gem of TV, not just Canadian TV.

Billy Campbell (John Cardinal) is the Demián Bichir of Canadian TV drama. He looks at the camera and says his lines and you believe every word he says, but more than that, you would give anything to know what he's thinking.

I came across this gem on Hulu and it's fantastic. The acting is excellent, the scenery in the show is great. And absolutely NO political nonsense (aka Wokeness).

Told over six 45 minute episodes, this was a very good 'tec drama from Canadian TV. Set in the wintry setting of Algonquin, we meet whispering, silver-bearded, middle-aged Detective John Cardinal. A dogged, committed, old-school detective, he's pursuing here a killer or killers who abduct, torture and kill youngsters. There's a strong sub-plot involving a young female detective Lisa Delorme ostensibly brought in to assist Cardinal's investigation but who in reality is investigating him for suspected corruption in relation to a police bust that went wrong and cost an officer his life. Both these main characters, as it happens, have relationship problems at home, Cardinal's wife has bi-polar disorder and Delorme and her husband are struggling to have a family.

It was hard not to see the influence of Nordic Noir predecessors like "The Killing" and "The Bridge" here, with the mix and match male / female cop pairing, the bleak, snowy geographic settings, as ever filmed with numerous, on-high drone shots and the brutal activities of the killers towards their hostages not to mention the by now obligatory lo-fi contemporary music used as the theme tune.

Derivative it may have been but that didn't detract from a gripping story told well. I think I prefer my mini-series played out like this over a shorter running time as it brought more dynamism and pace to proceedings. Sure it was tough at times to watch the excruciating treatment meted out to the victims and spare a thought in particular for the young lad whose whole role was to be trussed up naked and be intermittently tortured, I hope his next part is as the male lead in a rom-com or something.

The acting of the two leads was very good as was the chemistry between them. Their interplay is mutantly reflected and contrasted in the bizarre relationship which subsists between the two young male / female murderers they track, both these parts chillingly well played too. Tension reigned throughout with some surprising twists along the way and a suitably dramatic climax to finish things off. As you'd imagine, there wasn't much humour in all this bleakness but at the end there's one laugh-out-loud moment which will strike a chord to anyone who's ever been sent for a long stand on their first day at work.

I for one would be pleased to see this new detective pairing return for future investigations. Recommended.